Puppeteer
by ren-ta-chan
Summary: [Sasori x Sakura] He was the traitor. She was the one who was willing to accept him. Ratings may change. R&R please. Hints of other usual pairings. Chapter 6 up!
1. Puppets 1

Puppeteer

Disclaimer : Naruto was never mine. Never did. Nuh-uh.

WARNING : Story MAY contain spoilers to the Anime watchers.

A/N: Omg! A Sasori x Sakura pairing! Amazing, no? Advise that you read in the later manga that Sasori is hot! -drools- Hints of ItaSaku or maybe even SasuSaku... or other usual pairings. Maybe NejiSaku if I feel like it.

ren-ta-chan wants you all to read & review please!

Sasori and Sakura are both the same age mind you :). Well, to me at least.

* * *

Puppets : 1 ( Or One-shot )

* * *

Konoha village was peaceful. No attacks, no siree! The grass was green like it was supposed to be, the sun was shining so beautifully like it does everyday when it rises, even Uchiha Sasuke, who was saved from Naruto and some of the other rookies, would enjoy the day inwardly, also, the river was clear enough where you could see people bathe, uh, that's not the point. Anyway, it's a day where nothing could go wrong, right? 

The short pink haired girl raised herself from picking flowers to look at the crystal clear river. She sighed. It was so lonely to be here picking flowers without anyone with you. Sakura, was apparently the girl's name. It would be ironic to anyone who didn't know her to say that it was like her pink hair.

Sakura, would be annoyed and more annoyed saying that was delicate and fragile as the cherry blossom. For once, she would like someone to see that she was not weak. Everyone would think she wanted to be a ninja to be close to Sasuke, but they were wrong. She wanted to prove herself, if not the whole village, perhaps even one person would acknowledge her.

Kunoichi's were not weak. They were underestimated. Thus, she strived to become like her teacher, Tsunade the current Hokage. She stopped admiring the view as she felt a presence behind her.

"Show yourself!"

"Feisty little kunoichi, aren't you?" The myterious presence murmured.

Sakura noted the person was a man by his voice and it sounded familiar.. The person came out dressed in Akatsuki's clothing. "Akatsuki! Sasori the puppeteer... What the hell do you want!" Sakura asked with her voice tainted in venom.

"Relax, Sakura-san was it? I quitted the Akatsuki and it seems I managed to made it here but not unwounded..." He trailed off holding a hand against his stomach and blacked out.

Sakura sighed. Sasori seemed to be telling the truth since there was no way he would come alone to Konoha village. She hastily ran to him and checked his wounds. 'Only injured in the stomach. Fortunately it is not fatal. Judging from fainting, he must have came from a long way.' She quickly thought as she checked him.

She did a quick series of seals and held him to 'poof' back to her home like Kakashi usually did when he appeared at Team 7's usual meeting spot. Sakura was staying alone since her parents died on a mission.

Thankfully, she had appeared in her parent's room, thus, only needed to lift him up onto her parent's bed. She sighed again. Things wouldn't be so boring anymore. Sakura healed him moulding a little chakra into her hands.

After healing, she prepared something that would lastwhen he woke up in search of food. It was time to go meet her Team and she had accidentally set her alarm a tad too bit early so she spended her time picking flowers that contained medical properties for her collection of poisons and antidotes incase she had forgotten to wash her hands when she was making poison.

She left a note on the dining table for Sasori and not too quickly left the house to meet her Team.

Sakura purposely strolled to the meeting point knowing Kakashi would be late anyway even if she were to take a step each 10 minutes. Things would soon be interesting. If Sasori were to forsake his ways of being a traitor. She knew Tsunade-sensei could seal his chakra permanently if he chose not to stop his bad ways.

She wondered if she should bring Sasori to Tsunade-sensei after he had healed. Sakura could already imagine what he would do if he stopped his bad ways. Selling puppets, or being a puppeteer to please the kids. She flushed thinking it was cute of him to do that.

She arrived at the bridge in deep thoughts. Sasuke looked suspiciously at her since she arrived later than Naruto and she wasn't like herself since she would greet both Naruto and him but not ignoring them. He wondered what was occupying her thoughts, something, or maybe someone.

Sasuke felt something clenching his heart since the mention of her thinking about someone else beside him. He twitched slightly. He sighed inwardly. Sakura was making him weak. It was fine before, but now, she was affecting him. He was as sure as hell it wouldn't be long before he would melt by the sight of her.

Sakura, too involved in her thinking, did not notice Sasuke looking at her. She almost giggled if Sasori were to become a Konoha ninja, she was sure that he would get fangirls fast.

Sasuke noticed that Sakura was smiling and was holding back from giggling.

Confident that Sakura was thinking about him, he smirked.

Oh, if he knew how wrong he was... Since a certain puppeteer was occupying her mind.

After 2 hours later... Sakura still seems to be in deep thought and didn't even looked at Kakashi's way when he arrived with his trademark, "Yo!"

"You're late." Naruto said dully since he got used to Kakashi's lateness.

"Yes well, I had to wait for this guy finish picking his nose before walking since I couldn't walk looking at him since he was infront of me and his nose dirt was probably so in that it took so long..." Kakashi trailed off.

"That was lame Kakashi-sensei. If you manage to avoid attacks with your eyes closed, you could have avoided him that way too." Naruto replied apparently since he seemed to not only grow in strength, but intelligence as well.

Team 7 had matured greatly and Kakashi was proud of it.

"Today, we're going on probably a two-day mission to escort a girl to a nearby non-ninja village."

Sakura gulped. She hoped her guest at home knew how to cook.

* * *

tsuzuku.

* * *

Yay! New story. Want me to continue? -grins- I really want to continue since this is probably the first fanfic in featuring Sasori and Sakura paired together:p. 

ren-ta-chan wants you the read & review please!

Sorry if I'm spoiling the Anime!


	2. Puppets 2

Puppeteer

Disclaimer : Naruto was never mine. Never did. Nuh-uh.

WARNING : Story MAY contain spoilers to the Anime watchers.

Advise is to read Chapter 266 onwards and you'll see how hot Sasori is! -drools- There's already a Sasori fanclub!

A/N : I never expected to get reviews since I thought a lot of people didn't read the manga yet! But all of you boosted my confidence. Thus, Chapter 2! Thanks for the reviews! TT!

ren-ta-chan wants you all to read & review please!

Sasori and Sakura are the same age, to me at least! Let's just PRETEND that Sasori doesn't have a puppet body and is all abs! -drools-

* * *

Puppets : 2

* * *

"Ugh..." Sasori groaned as he clenched his head and stomach. He looked around his surrounding and expected to be in a cell where they kept missing-nins but did not expect to see himself lying on a comfortable bed and his head resting on a soft pillow. 

'Must be the kunoichi's home and her parents room since the bed is much too big for herself.' To comfirm his thoughts, he noticed a photo frame of a smaller version of the pink-haired kunoichi with two other adults.

He slowly pushed himself off the bed and went downstairs. With his keen eyes, he found a note on the dining table.

_Sasori-san,_

_There's some snacks on the kitchen counter. It's ramen. Heat it up in the oven next to it. There are some cup ramen if I'm gone longer than a day. At most, I'll come back tomorrow._

_Sakura._

He snorted. He bet the kunoichi didn't think he could cook. Might as well eat the ramen and give her a nightmare she can never forget when she comes home.

* * *

The mission went quite well. It was quite funny to see Sasuke trying to push the girl off him. Sakura ignored him while Naruto laughed at Sasuke's bad luck. 

'What the hell is wrong with Sakura? Wouldn't she fight for this position instead of ignoring me?' Sasuke thought still trying to make the glomping charge of theirs to get off him.

After the mission, Sakura would usually be the first to run home since she would want to take a shower after a mission. Sasuke looked at her suspiciously while Kakashi and Naruto couldn't care less since they wanted to go home quickly.

'Damn. I don't want to go home!' Sakura said mentally as she thought about Sasori. But she knew she would have to face this in the end. She sighed and walked home.

* * *

In the meantime with Sasori, while slurping ramen into his mouth, thought about a devilish idea to scare her. Something she can never forget. 

A dark look came over his face.

Oh, wouldn't you know? The kunoichi will never forget this.

It will haunt her for the rest of her life.

* * *

Sakura screamed. 

This wasn't what she expected!

Oh god.

The horror.

Sasori was in her mum's pink apron and putting food on the dining table. What's more, he was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans.

The food more importantly, looked like it was fit for royalty.

Wow, who knew Sasori could cook?

Sakura raised a hand to point at Sasori.

"You... you... ca-can c-cook?" Sakura stuttered out. Sasori's only reply was to look at her boredly. She swore she felt an urge to look out the window to check if pigs were flying and that Orochimaru was shaking hands with Tsunade-sensei.

Sasori felt amusement in him as he stared at her. The kunoichi was interesting. Of course he knew how to cook! Heck, he was the prodigy of cooking since the age of 7 and won cooking contests. He had housewives visiting him daily while he had not joined Akatsuki to taste their food to see if their cooking was perfect. Even Chiiyo-baa-sama wanted him to cook for their daily meal.

Even in Akatsuki, everyone, including Itachi which Kisame wouldn't stop pestering wanted him to cook for them but when he pointed out on how the hell would they get groceries if they were so far out in the wild, all hell went loose. In the end, much the Akatsuki primary members dismay, he did not cook.

Sasori inwardly rolled his eyes at the memory. The kunoichi finally regained her composure and looked at him weirdly. "The food's getting cold. Besides, you must be hungry after a mission." He said.

Sakura blinked and nodded, settling herself on a seat. "Itadakimasu." She said out of habit to thank for the meal. Sasori picked up his chopsticks and took some of the food set out on the table. Sakura hesitated and wondered if there was any poison in it.

As if reading her mind, Sasori broke the silence.

"There isn't any poison in it if that's what you are thinking."

Sakura blushed. Embarrassed, she popped the food into her mouth. "Delicious!" She blurted out. Not caring, she stuffed herself. Sasori smirked and watched her eat while occasionally eating some food himself.

Sakura setted her bowl down and let out a breath. "That was good! I haven't had any delicacies since I was young!" She said.

Sasori let another smirk out. "I'm glad you liked it."

"Of course! You should teach me some of the recipes! It's amazing! I can't believe you could make use of the food stored in my refrigerator." Sakura replied.

After neither of them spoke, the tension rised, even more when Sakura spoke the question each have been wondering about.

"What are you going to do now? Are you going to become a Konoha citizen?"

"Hn. It's better than being in Sand. People here would probably accept me better than there." He replied. It wasn't direct, but Sakura understood it. He wants to become a Konoha citizen.

"I can bring you to Tsunade-sensei tomorrow if you'd like." She asked.

He nodded.

"I'm going to take a shower, but before I leave, I take it you took the time to explore my house when I wasn't here? You can use my parents room which you woked up in earlier." She said before going upstairs to shower.

Sasori sighed. His chakra was going to be taken away for awhile. He wondered where he'll be living after tomorrow.

He didn't want to leave here... Wait. It sounds like he is getting attached to the kunoichi.

Crap.

* * *

tsuzuku.

* * *

Yay! 2nd Chapter! Hoped you like it! 

I hope I get more reviews again!

ren-ta-chan wants you to read & review please!

Sorry if I'm spoiling anything.

Tune in to the next chapter soon :D.


	3. Puppets 3

Puppeteer

Disclaimer : Naruto was never mine. Never did. Nuh-uh.

WARNING : Story MAY contain spoilers to the Anime watchers.

Advise is to read Chapter 266 onwards and you'll see how hot Sasori is! -drools- There's already a Sasori fanclub!

A/N : This chapter will explain Sasori's lack of puppet body!

ren-ta-chan wants you all to read & review please!

* * *

Puppets : 3

* * *

Sakura woke early in the morning due to her alarm clock and a delicious smell coming from her kitchen. She sighed. She got up from her bed to take a shower and brush her teeth. 

After her shower, which was cold to wake her up more effectively, she headed downstairs to have her breakfast which she knew Sasori had made for her. After all, it WAS her house and he wouldn't be too greedy to leave her food out right?

Sakura was sure she could get used to the sight of seeing Sasori in her mother's apron. It was so CUTE seeing him in that. Wait, did she just think cute? She flushed. Well, no one can deny the cuteness except guys.

Come to think of it... Where the hell did he find the white shirt and jeans? Must have been her father's. Since it looked baggy on him yet made him have this look. She sighed. He looked absolutely fabulous in it.

Argh.

She felt she was becoming like the lovesick fangirl when she was with Sasuke.

Sakura sat at one end of the table while Sasori served her with pancakes. She blinked. "I think you know the way to earn a man's heart is through his stomach. But somehow, the situation seems reversed here." Sakura said with amusement twinkling in her eyes.

Sasori smirked. "Let's just say things with me aren't usually normal." He replied.

She slowly digested the answer.

"Itadakimasu."

* * *

They had decided on walking to the Hokage's Tower since it wasn't too far from her home. 

Thankfully, no one had recognised him and it seemed that a lot of the girls were slowly falling for his looks. They arrived at the Tower quietly and Sakura looked at his face to look for any comfirmation that he was ready to enter her sensei's office. Sasori nodded and pushed opened the door.

* * *

"So… Sasori the puppeteer, you wish to stop your ways of the Akatsuki? I want you to swear. Then I shall retain all your chakra until you have earned my trust." Tsunade said after hearing Sakura's explanation. 

"Ah! I have been meaning to ask you Sasori-san. That time when I fought you… You had a puppet body. Besides, the day I healed you, you had a perfectly fine male body." Sakura asked curiously.

"Chiiyo-baa, before she died of old age, removed the seal that was above my heart. Removing the seal required a blood of a loved one. Therefore, I ran away from the Sand village because I knew she was the dearest to me." Sasori replied emotionlessly yet Sakura could hear the tinge of sadness in it.

Tsunade hid a grin. She knew that grandma of his would still be dear to him, but now, her apprentice would soon be the most important in the puppeteer's heart. Not to mention, that Uchiha seemed to be looking at her apprentice a lot lately. Oh the fun of it all! Maybe she could trust this Sasori already.

"Hmm. I have a proposition for you Sasori-san. I wouldn't take your chakra away. BUT, in return, I want you to swear to protect Sakura at all times. Stand guard in front of her bathroom when she needs to go for all I care. Lately, Akatsuki is planning something and I'm sure they're targetting us since our country has been the one attacking them mostly." Tsunade said seriously even though her mind was planning deviously.

Sasori looked at the 5th Hokage.

"I swear, I will protect Sakura-san from harm or anything that is dangerous to her." He spoke up. Sakura looked at him in surprise.

"Excellent! Don't worry, you'll still be living at Sakura's house!" The 5th Hokage exclaimed as she clapped both her hands together. She threw something at Sasori.

Sakura, still in shock, allowed Tsunade to escort her out of the Hokage Tower while Sasori tied what the Hokage gave him around his arm.

* * *

Sasuke decided to walk around the village's marketplace to buy some supplies which was usually ninja projectiles or tomatoes. He noticed the familiar pink hair out of the crowd. Sasuke braced himself for Sakura's usual greeting along with a hug. He closed his eyes. 

Any moment now.

1.

2.

3.

Huh?

Sasuke opened one of his eyes and looked at Sakura. He blinked. Was that…? He hastily ran to her and grabbed her away from Sasori.

"Sasori…" He growled. Sasori looked up, obviously bored.

"Ah! Sasuke-kun! He is not an enemy! Can't you see his headband that's around his arm? Oh it's getting late, got to run!" Sakura quickly explained before she grabbed Sasori's hand and ran away from the seething Sasuke.

The emotions were clear to him now.

The emotion was different from anger, yet alike.

Sasuke was as sure as hell he was jealous.

* * *

Sakura panted. Using too much chakra on running was wasteful. Sasori sat down on her couch looking amused. She glared at him. She settled herself down on another couch saying a something very shocking that it surprised herself that she was pouring out her feelings to the puppeteer looking at her., "I'm starting to get annoyed at Sasuke. I almost DID beat you that time in the cave, he still thinks I'm the weak girl who couldn't withstand a fight for a few minutes." 

She sighed. "I'll be upstairs in my room." Sakura muttered before trudging up the stairs. Sasori took this as a cue to start cooking. Funny how he, a male, was cooking for this very fast mood changing kunoichi…

He inwardly sighed.

Does that mean he had to follow Sakura even on missions?

Woah. That sounded like he was whining.

* * *

tsuzuku.

* * *

Yay! Review please! Sasori's so cute ne! 

Once again, thanks for support and all!

Tune in next time for chapter 4!


	4. Puppets 4

Puppeteer

Disclaimer : Naruto was never mine. Never did. Nuh-uh.

WARNING : Story MAY contain spoilers to the Anime watchers.

Advise is to read Chapter 266 onwards and you'll see how hot Sasori is! -drools- There's already a Sasori fanclub!

Summary: Sasori x Sakura He was the traitor. She was the one who was willing to accept him.

A/N: Eh! Slow update! Sorry everyone! Busy with CCA and stuff.

ren-ta-chan wants you all to read & review please!

-

Puppets : 4

-

Sasori snorted. Why was he here with the kunoichi at the bridge in the first place again? Oh right, he swored, god dammit! Swored!

Out of the two choices to agree, he just HAD to choose protecting this kunoichi. Though, staying at Sakura's home would be too boring since without any chakra, he couldn't do anything except sitting around here and there.

At least the choice he made was going to be fun, with this Kyuubi kid shouting at him every second and the Uchiha survivor glaring holes into his back as he was walking BESIDE Sakura when the mission had started. He smirked at the angry Uchiha. He could tell that the Uchiha kid was dying for the spot beside Sakura.

Their mission was a C-rank mission to escort, once again, not surprisingly, a girl to the Sand village. The same thing happened like everytime they had a girl for a charge. The same routine was that the girl would hug Sasuke while Sasuke growled and tried to push the girl off which was failing terribly as he tried not to put chakra in his hands to get rid of their charge.

Apparently, Kakashi was too busy to come with them or more like lazy and casually mentioned that Sasori was good enough to protect them all. Naruto would exclaim while Sasuke ignored him with an eye twitch knowing that Kakashi implied that they were probably weaker than Sasori. Sakura, however, seemed happy with the idea which made Sasuke annoyed.

Sasuke was irritated as he watched Sasori smirking at him tauntingly. He scowled in response.

'Just a few more minutes till we arrive at Sand village.' Sasuke mentally thought to calm himself down but to no avail as the charge of their's was holding his arm tightly and sounded like she shrieked her words out on asking him on a date like a banshee.

"Yes! Finally! No more whining!" Naruto cheered as he broke the silence between Sasori and Sakura when they arrived at Sand village.

"I wonder if we'll see _**him**._" Sasuke muttered out finally glad that they arrived. Not caring anymore, he pushed the girl with more strength away than him. The girl gave a pout which looked nothing like one but to Sasuke's relief, she left.

"You mean_ **him**?_" Sakura asked, turning around to look at him.

Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah, _**him**."_

-

"I trust they arrived already, Kazekage-sama?" An advisor blurted out as he noticed the Kazekage leaving his office and getting ready to 'poof' to the gates to meet their guests.

"Aa."

-

"I've been to Sand Village before, but I've never had time to explore it." Sakura said excitedly jumping up and down and giving a silent message to Sasori through her eyes.

Sasori sighed at the puppy-eyed look of Sakura's knowing she wanted him to show her around. "Fine. I doubt Sand has changed at all."

Which surprised Sasuke and Naruto when the sentence came out since they had not heard Sakura asking Sasori anything. Yet, there was another voice. A low, sexy, very seducing, did I mention, sexy voice?

"Uchiha, Uzumaki and Sakura-san. The Hokage sent me a letter saying you would be here. I haven't thank you for saving my life yet, Sakura-san. I also must thank you for saving my brother, Kankurou."

The trio spun around facing Gaara. Sakura flushed at the praise the Kazekage was giving her. "It was no problem Kazekage-sama."

"Please, I do not wish to be called that. You are my guest, including your teammates. Please call me Gaara." Gaara stated politely. She noted that Gaara ignored Sasori but nodded. "If you insist Ka…Gaara-san."

Sasori narrowed his eyes at the Kazekage's look on Sakura. He smirked and stepped in. "I was just about to tour Sakura-san. It's best we be going." He started. Sasori held Sakura's hand and walked off. Naruto felt his jaw drop. He raised a finger to the now disappearing 'couple'.

"That… THAT BASTARD!"

-

Sakura blushed as she looked at Sasori's back and his hand holding hers. That, was most certainly interesting. She was thankful that Sasori had saved her from the intense gaze that Gaara was giving her. There was also something different about Gaara… Come to think of it, Sasori seemed a little different too.

Perhaps a little bit more, protective? His hand on hers was firm yet comforting and warm. She let out a smile as Sasori looked back at her.

"Thanks."

It was just a glimpse. But it was clear.

Sasori was smiling back at her.

-

"That stupid Sasori! Who does he think he is? Taking Sakura-chan! Wait till my DEAR Hinata-chan hears about this! Ah! Ramen ramen!" Naruto ranted as he was left with Sasuke and the Kazekage which both were glaring at the couple who left a few seconds ago.

Sasuke was angry at Sasori for taking Sakura away while Gaara, was just plain pissed at being ignored when he himself had ignored the man in question.

Sasuke sighed. It's going to be a long long day.

-

Sakura gasped. She didn't know a place like this existed in Sand. "How do you Sand people support a wide range of flowers and a waterfall in your village?" Sakura asked curiously.

Sasori smirked. "A secret."

Sakura ran into the middle of the flower field and twirled around with hands out then promptly let herself fall back onto the field. She giggled as she plucked a daisy and put it on her ear. "How did you find this place?" Sakura questioned once more.

"I found this place when I was lonely and bored. When my parents were frequently out on missions, I would come here and it would ease my sorrow." Sasori replied once he settled down by sitting next to her.

Sakura felt sorry for bringing up a sad matter that's best not to be brought up. As though her body had a will of it's own, tears started welling up in pity for Sasori, then, she hugged him.

"You're not alone."

For once, Sasori felt something warm in his heart for a very long time and felt his shirt dampening.

"Try not to cry too much. It's troublesome to change my outfit."

Sakura cried and laughed at the same time.

Sasori's face curved into a genuine smile for the second time that day.

-

Omg! Sasori SMILES. Hooray for fast advances!

Reading too much Harry Potter fanfiction lately! I had almost written 'apparate' instead of 'poof'.

I don't think there will be a Gaara and Sakura interaction for love because it'll be too much guys for Sakura to handle!

A little bit of SasuSaku and ItaSaku. But don't worry, it's still staying on Sasori and Sakura! Spotlights on them!

Uwaaah! Chapter 272 of Naruto came out! Sasori is soooo strong. Sakura should join Akatsuki!

Tune in to the next chapter!


	5. Puppets 5

Puppeteer

Disclaimer : Naruto was never mine. Never did. Nuh-uh.

WARNING : Story MAY contain spoilers to the Anime watchers.

Advise is to read Chapter 266 onwards and you'll see how hot Sasori is! -drools- There's already a Sasori fanclub!

Summary: Sasori x Sakura… He was the traitor. She was the one who was willing to accept him.

A/N: Haha. Laziness speaded to me, nevertheless, here's Chapter 5! I hoped Sasori didn't die. I don't want him to! Thanks for all the reviews!

ren-ta-chan wants you all to read & review please!

-

Puppets : 5

-

Sakura and Sasori decided to head back because of the setting sun. But unconciously, their hands were grasping each other's lightly.

Neither wanted to speak but enjoyed the silence. Both saw Naruto and Sasuke at a Ramen stand in which, Sasori doubted they explored the village at all since the Ramen stall was quite near to the entrance to this village.

Sasuke growled quietly when Sakura and Sasori approached them. Why the hell were the two holding hands? He felt his chakra rising and the urge to kill the puppeteer before him.

A 'poof' sound was heard.

"Yo!"

Sasuke calmed down as Sasori eyed him warily.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"… I thought you had something to do, sensei?" Naruto asked from the corner of his eye not trusting Kakashi one bit.

"Well, I just thought I'd stop by after my important stuff." Kakashi replied. 'Which concerns spying on Sakura-chan and Sasori-kun.' Kakashi thought and chuckled knowing that Sasori had probably sensed him during when he brought Sakura to his 'special' field.

"Anyway! We'd better go and book rooms for our stay." Kakashi cheerfully said before any questions were asked.

-

"I'm sorry sir! We have only single beds for each room and there are only 3 rooms left! Unless you'd want to share?" The receptionist asked.

Before any protests were made, Kakashi hastily interrupted, "We'll take it! I'll take one room while Sasuke and Naruto will share a room and Sakura-chan will be sharing a room with Sasori-kun."

Kakashi was sure he would've been dead on the spot with three glares on him since Sakura REALLY didn't mind anything except a few exceptions…

"Wait a minute Kakashi-sensei! How come YOU get your own room?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Well… If you want me to share a room with Sakura-chan. I wouldn't mind."

"NO!" Which this time surprised Sakura since Sasori himself had also turned down the perverted sensei of her's request.

Which, fortunately for Sasori, Sasuke and Naruto were too busy pushing images of what their perverted sensei would do to their female teammate. Meanwhile, Sasori was cursing for losing himself by exclaiming outloud. Thank God Sakura didn't notice, which was what he THOUGHT.

"You'll still be taking the room, sir?" The receptionist asked again, but this time impatiently.

Kakashi's mask wrinkled because of his wide smile and that alone convinced the receptionist they were staying.

"Here's the three keys to your rooms. Enjoy your stay!"

Sasuke, Naruto and Sasori shook themselves out of their thoughts as Kakashi turned around to scrutinize the boys and began seriously, "I'm leaving you with one room each and I expect no fighting going on around here. Sasori, I trust that you're a man with honour, so I know you'll let Sakura-chan have the bed," he paused and continued wondering what to say to his two other boys, "Well Sasuke, if you swing that WAY considering you don't like to hang out with girls and all, I don't want to see things with you and Naruto going on."

Naruto scratched his head while Sasuke twitched in annoyance. Sasori let himself smirk as the Uchiha was having some bad thoughts.

Kakashi handed a key to Sasori and then to Sasuke while holding a key for himself. They then walked respectively to their rooms holding out a key and turning it once it has entered the knob's hole.

Sasori, being the man he is, allowed Sakura to walk in first. Sakura smiled at his politeness. Across from them was Sasuke's and Naruto's room. They watched as Sasuke went into the room first while pushing Naruto out of the way. Sakura shook her head and as Sasori closed the door to their room, she said, "Sasuke is so mean."

Sasori raised an eyebrow wondering if she knew she missed out the '-kun' in Uchiha's name. He shrugged and settled himself down on the couch while taking off his sandals. He lied down there and closed his eyes until a voice asked in a shock tone, "What do you think you're doing?"

He opened an eye and looked into the face of the pink haired kunoichi.

"Sleeping, what else?" He lazily drawled.

"I know that! Aren't you going to sleep on the bed?"

"Look, I'm letting you have the bed. As Kakashi adequately put it, I'm a man with honour. Now keep quiet and let me have some sleep." Sasori said in a tone to stop the conversation as he turned on his sides facing the cushions. Finding that she had no response, he smirked and relaxed.

But Sakura wasn't one to give up easily. Just like how her teacher would never give up gambling, Sakura grabbed Sasori's shirt and threw him onto the bed. Of course, chakra was needed, after all, having monstrous strength by learning from Tsunade has it's uses.

Sasori hit the bed on his back and surprisingly, it was very soft. He growled and faced the kunoichi who was looking smugly at him.

"What the hell was that for you crazy kunoichi!"

She rolled her eyes and made her way to the bed, lying down opposite Sasori who was watching her.

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sharing a bed with you. Who knows? You might snore or punch me in your sleep…"

Even though he said that, he had yet to make any movements to go back to the couch.

Sakura turned to face him and sat up.

"Sasori-kun?"

"Hn?" He looked at her lazily.

"Shut up."

And with that, she kissed him.

Sasori widened his eyes as he watched his hands reaching up to grasp her shoulders and his mouth deepening the kiss. His eyes grew hazy and looked at Sakura's closed eyes. His tongue delved hungrily into her mouth wanting more.

Sasori drew the blankets over them losing them to what they may regret the next day. But it was too late. They were too lost into what they wanted.

He wanted someone to accept him.

She wanted someone to notice her.

They found it in each other.

-

The chapter is a LITTLE shorter… but things are getting kinkier!

Oh no… I wouldn't make poor Sakura-chan pregnant! It's still too early for that and I don't like young preggy girls story. It's too cliché.

Yay. Thanks for all the reviews once more!

ren-ta-chan wants you all to read & review please!

Tune in next time, ne?


	6. Puppets 6

Puppeteer

Disclaimer : Naruto was never mine. Never did. Nuh-uh.

WARNING : Story MAY contain spoilers to the Anime watchers.

Advise is to read Chapter 266 onwards and you'll see how hot Sasori is! -drools- There's already a Sasori fanclub!

Summary: Sasori x Sakura… He was the traitor. She was the one who was willing to accept him.

A/N: Oops. I'm sorry for the VERY late update. I just had my End of Year exams. Chapter 6 now! Thanks for all the reviews!

ren-ta-chan wants you all to read & review please!

-

Puppets : 6

-

Sakura wasn't surprised.

Oh no. Of course she wasn't. But there was hope. A little hope was straying in her heart hoping to find him there, beside her, after the night of passion.

Her hand strayed from holding the blanket to Sasori's part of the bed which was empty. It was still warm. Which meant he left not too long ago.

Was her hope desperate?

She let her hand returned to grasp her other hand against her heart. She wouldn't let this put her into misery. She was determined and she wasn't the apprentice for the 5th Hokage for nothing.

She stood up slowly from the bed, swinging her legs by the side. Sakura picked up her clothes slowly, her eyes showing her in deep thoughts.

A shower would do good for now.

Would things between Sasori and her be more awkward?

Again, the little thing in her heart flared with hope that it would not cause things to go wrong with them.

After last night... Was it all nothing?

Questions later. She really could use a shower now.

-

Sasori started but not noticeably because the blond ninja asked about what he would rather not faced at this moment. But it was what he was thinking about anyway.

"Where do you think is Sakura-chan?" Queried the blond ninja slurping his ramen from a nearby stall located coincidentally beside the hotel.

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"How should I know, dobe? Why don't you ask Sasori-_kun_?" Sasuke sneered with a mocking tone at the last sentence and thankfully, Naruto didn't hear the dobe remark because of the intent to start getting another styrofoamed bowl of ramen from his now favourite stall in the Sand village. It was clear that it was because of it's closeness to the hotel.

Sasori rubbed the spot just above his nose and between his eyes. Last night was certainly an experience. But now asking about Sakura was not a good idea because of _that_. He felt a certain urge to kill that Uchiha not because of that remark, but the similarity between his older brother was clear.

He hesitated to answer. It was awkward to speak of her after the experience, no, the _mistake_ last night. His lips spoke freely for him.

"How should I know? I may have slept in the _same room_ with her but that does not mean I should keep tabs on her."

His inner voice nodded. A _mistake_. Definitely a _mistake_.

Yet another, which seemed to be saying in a tone when one scolds a child seemed to be angry at him.

_It's not a mistake and you know it. You refuse to accept it because you LOVE her. A few days is what it takes. Your barrier isn't as high as it was before our grandmother died, ne, Sasori-KUN?_

He cursed himself for having a logical voice.

The cursed three words rang in his head, refusing to go away.

_You LOVE her._

But that didn't seem to be a huge problem compared to this when he shook out of his thoughts.

"Sakura-chan! Are you okay? You're crying!" That loud voice interrupted his trail of thoughts.

_Shit_.

Things were DEFINITELY not going HIS way.

-

The shower definitely helped a lot.

Sakura let out a yawn, hoping to get some food for her empty stomach. It wasn't enough. Her thoughts kept straying onto a certain puppeteer. She blushed.

It was her first. But surely a handsome cute guy like the man of her thoughts would surely have slept with another woman before. She was quite shocked when under the blanket he told her it was his first too but smiled when he was blushing at that tiny fact about him.

Sakura found a little pride knowing she was his first. But it was certainly weird how he was very experienced.

_Maybe the Akatsuki had taught him_...

She chuckled mentally letting a smile stray onto her face.

She tidied up the room and made the bed when her cleanliness for things kicked in.

_Definitely that I had gotten the habit of cleaning things from my Mother's side of the family_.

Sakura left the room but stared at it and approved once she found everything placed neatly. She let out a determined nod when she approached the stairs. She wouldn't let what had happened affect her relationship with Sasori. But it would change tremendously. She thought of happy things and let out a wide smile to face her teammates.

But of course, not everything can be happy even when it's carefully laid out because of Fate.

"How should I know, dobe? Why don't you ask Sasori-_kun_?"

She waited for the answer from Sasori when she finished hearing Sasuke's question. But Sakura didn't knew she had to dread it. The dreaded sentence.

A pause, but soon enough, an answer.

The smile slipped of her face and didn't want to startle them by the gasp which desperately wanted to escape from her lips because of the casual way the puppeteer had replied to her old crush.

"How should I know? I may have slept in the _same room_ with her but that does not mean I should keep tabs on her."

The tears broke free. Gently, the tears slowly dripped from her face. Her shoulders shook. She should have known better than to hope. She bit back a sob and rubbed her tears with each hands wanting it to stop.

Sakura slowly moved a step back softly and slowly hoping they would not notice her.

"Sakura-chan! Are you okay? You're crying!" Naruto's voice rang out.

_Damn._

She REALLY should have known better than to hope.

Sakura quickly wiped her tears and went down the stairs pasting a fake smile on her face.

"Of course! I was just thinking about the past and I wished it was still the good old days!"

-

"Of course! I was just thinking about the past and I wished it was still the good old days!"

Sasori winced. He knew it was fake. He knew she was hurt by his mere reply and he didn't really expect her to hear it.

He felt the Uchiha's piercing stare on him.

Sasori rolled his eyes and merely raised an eyebrow back after he concealed his emotions raging in him. The strongest emotions he felt was, regret and guilt.

Sasuke, wasn't stupid. Oh no. Obviously he was not stupid. He wasn't like Naruto, who easily accepted Sakura's answer. There was something between the puppeteer and Sakura yesterday. He would find out why of course.

He wouldn't lose Sakura to some outsider, but it seemed Sasori's sentence made her cry. A chance to win Sakura.

_Perfect_.

-

Okay. Sasuke's insult to Naruto was bad! BOOOO! It's purely Sasori x Sakura except Sasuke wanting Sakura too!

I'm really sorry for late update again! Sasori is so confused ne? Sorry if you're assuming it's a cliffhanger because I haven't gone into the part where how Sasori is going to amend his hurting sentence to Sakura-chan!

Tune in to next chapter! Ja!

ren-ta-chan wants you to read & review please!


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